A Different Side to the Dark
by KinkyVixen
Summary: When Jack goes to his lake to mourn the passing of a dear friend 60 years after Pitch's defeat, he didn't expect to see a side of The Nightmare King that nobody knew about.


It has been 60 years since Jack Frost and the children of Burgess defeated Pitch Black. Now, Jack was standing in a bright white hospital room, next to a hospital bed, holding the hand of his first believer. Ice crystals falling from his face as he cried.

Jack knew what was happening, he's seen it many times before. Jamie Bennett was dying of old age.

Jack's power flared a little at this thought and caused the room temperature to drop a few degrees.

Noticing this, Jamie looked up at Jack and squeezed his hand lightly.

"Don't cry, Jack. Just remember, even though I'll be gone, I will always believe in you. Never forget that, Jack."

Slowly, Jamie's hand slid out of Jack's and fell to his side as the life left his body.

The temperature in the room dropped even more as Jack listened to the Heart monitor zero out.

The door opened and the doctor came in and turned off the machine. She picked up Jamie's clipboard and said "Time of Death; 6:48pm" as she wrote it down.

Jack sank to the floor next to the bed and cried some more as the room temperature continued to drop. Jack stayed there while the doctor walked around the room and turned all of the machines off.

Only when someone came to take Jamie's body away, did he get up. He followed them out of the room and into the hall, and watched as they disappeared through the doors at the end of the hall.

He didn't want to follow them anymore, the pain he felt now was worse than the pain of not being believed in.

Jack turned away and exited the hospital. The wind pushed and pulled at Jack, trying to get him to fly with her but Jack refused, he didn't feel up to much except walking. So that's what Jack did, all the way to his lake.

His emotions effected the air around him as a small midnight blizzard formed in the sky above, blocking out the moon's pitying light. A flash blizzard that would last all day marking Jamie's death.

When Jack finally reached his lake, he walked to the center of it and looked around him. This place created many good memories for Jack. Memories of the Guardians, of Jamie and the other children, of Jamie's children and grandchildren.

He was looking down at the frozen water beneath him when he heard someone call his name. He looked around for the source of the voice.

"Jack, I have something for you." Sophie stepped out of the forest and onto Jack's lake. Jack moved out of the way as she stepped into the spot he was just standing in.

"I know your sad, Jack, so am I. Even though I haven't been able to see you since my 14th birthday, I wanted to give you this." Sophie said as she put an old notebook down on the ice.

"It's Jamie's old sketchbook from when he first met you. It full of drawings of you two together so I figured you should have it." She then turned back the way she came and walked off the lake. Without turning back, she said "Goodbye, Jack Frost." And then walked away.

Jack fell to his knees onto the ice and picked up the sketchbook. He flipped through it, looking at the pictures of him and Jamie.

There was a picture of Jack making it snow in Jamie's old bedroom, and a picture of Jack protecting Jamie from a large menacing shadow. There was also one of them having a snowball fight after they defeated Pitch, and one of Jack's first visit in a school.

Jack closed the book, he couldn't look anymore. He curled up on his side, laying on the ice, clutching tightly to the book against his chest and continued to cry. He lay there for a long time until he got the eerie feeling of being watched.

"Jack! What a nice surprise to see you again after such a long time."

Jack clutched the book tighter at the voice. "Leave me alone." He said, his voice cracked halfway through the sentence.

Pitch noticed this and stepped closer to Jack. "Jack? Are you ok? What's wrong?" Jack only shook his head in response. "Was it the Guardians again?"

Jack didn't answer so Pitch moved to the front of Jack and studied the Frost child. He noticed a sketch book, clutched tightly to Jack's chest, with a picture of Jack and that boy who ruined his plans from 60 years ago... 'Oh'.

It suddenly clicked in Pitch's mind what was wrong with Jack.

"Jack...I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Pitch, don't apologize for it." Jack said.

Pitch wanted to comfort Jack in some way but wasn't sure how. Figuring he'd take the risk, Pitch crouched down by his head and ran a hand through Jack's hair, petting him like a cat.

Jack jumped at the sudden touch from Pitch but settled down again as he relaxed into Pitch's affection.

Pitch watched as Jack visibly relaxed under his touch. It amazed Pitch that Jack had allowed Pitch to touch him. He was positive that Jack would try to freeze him again. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he continued to pet Jack. Slowly, the boy began to fall asleep to Pitch's touch. Pitch was amazed that Jack would fall asleep in his company, knowing what he could do.

Gently, Pitch lifted Jack up into his arms and vanished into the nearest shadow, appearing a moment later, in his lair. He carried Jack to his bedroom and set him carefully down on black satin sheets. He grabbed Jack's staff an hung it on a nearby hook then covered Jack with a light blanket. He reached into a nearby shadow and pulled out a sheet of black paper and glowing gold ink to leave Jack a note. He then vanished into the shadows, leaving Jack to sleep peacefully.

When Jack awoke, he was in a panic. He fell asleep in Pitch's company, awoke on a huge bed, and now he couldn't find his staff. A soft glow caught his attention on a nearby stand as he climbed off the bed to look. It was a note, from pitch,

 _ **"Jack, your staff is on a hook next to the closet. When you feel up to it, have Onyx lead you to me. Or if you prefer, lead you to the exit. It's your choice, Jack."**_

 ** _-Pitch Black-_**

Jack took the note and walked over to the closet and sure enough, there was his staff. He grabbed it an looked over the note again.

"Who's Onyx?" Jack asked aloud to himself. Suddenly he felt something rub against his head. He turned to come face to snout with a rather large Nightmare.

"Are you Onyx?" Jack asked. The nightmare lowered her head as if saying 'yes'.

"Well, can you lead me to...to..." Jack frowned. He knew he should leave but he didn't particularly want to. He should leave now, before things got out of hand.

The nightmare snorted and rubbed Jack's head at her impatience. Jack made his division.

"Will you lead me to Pitch, please?" The nightmare lowered her head again and walked to the door with Jack following closely behind.


End file.
